Bye Bye, Oklahoma Theocracy

Now for some less depressing news, reminding us that there is a bright side, and that life is not always one long sigh: after a Supreme Court ruling over two years ago stating that the statue of the ten commandments at the Oklahoma state building needed to be removed, the eyesore was finally taken away from public property on Monday. It was "re-homed" at the Oklahoma Counsel of Public Affairs, which is an organization that advertises Republican candidates for various offices and lobbies for policies that favor theocracy, christian theocracy, and threaten the constitutional rights of everyone. At least the statue is on private property.

No one should think that a demand was made by the people to remove the ten commandments. All that was desired by non-christian citizens, such as The Satanic Temple, was equal space for icons and symbols that favored The Satanic Temple, alongside the ten commandments. It was the Supreme Court that told Oklahoma to remove the eyesore from its front lawn. Thomas Jefferson would agree. No religion should cram government space with icons. Neither should a religion attempt to rule any segment of America's population. It would have been a lot of fun to attend the unveiling of the statue of Baphomet on the lawn of the Oklahoma state building, however. But all is not lost; a letter was sent earlier this week by The Satanic Temple to the state of Arkansas, concerning a similar eyesore at the state capital building in Hope.

It's The End Of The World As We Know It

And now, for the end of the world as some folks know it, we have a Supreme Court ruling that the Christian icon, the statue of the ten commandments at the state capital building in Oklahoma, must come down. There have been previous rulings in lower courts that the statue could stay, but only if joined by Baphomet. Since nasty and selfish religious folk in Oklahoma persisted in blocking this, it became evident that coming into compliance with the law is beyond certain individuals there, so we now have a ruling from the Supreme Court to remove all religious debris from government property.

This blogger would have preferred that the statue of Baphomet sit alongside the other statue, but that would have augured the end of the world as some folks see it.

Yay Wicca! Yay Supreme Court!

In Bloomfield, New Mexico, a monument on government property which legally does not belong there will have to be removed. Members of Bloomfield's Wiccan community have requested that a cheap statue of the ten commandments be removed from the lawn of Bloomfield's city hall building, because it shows a preference for Christianity. The suit was first filed in 2012, and yesterday, the Supreme Court gave the city until September 10 to load it up on a dump truck and dump it somewhere else.

According to Senior District Judge James A. Parker, the monument "has no place on City Hall property". This is because it shows favor of one religion over others, and the United States Government does not exist in order to play religious favorites. The silly-assed Christians who wanted it to remain tried to argue that it has historical significance, but as it was erected in 2011, history was found to have no significance whatsoever. 

There was also a sign alongside of the eyesore statue, announcing that anyone who objected to it's presence is an "outsider". Now that the Supreme Court has sided with the local Wiccans and Pagans, it appears that the "outsiders" are the federal law breakers who wanted to force their religion on everyone.

Disrespectful Christian Children

Today I read a post from someone on Facebook, whose son, a Christian of the born-again variety, didn't like her Tarot cards. The cards disappeared, and my Facebook friend was unable to find them, and this morning her son finally told her that he tore them up and threw them out, on an isolated country road near their home. She's really disgusted with his behavior, and I don't blame her. I've met Christians in the past who destroy property.....the more superstitious ones often burn books on matters occult and throw any jewelry that reminds them of a pentacle away. In extreme cases, occultists or suspected occultists have been assaulted and murdered, and homes and buildings have been set on fire or otherwise destroyed.

Why would an adult young man bear his mother such disrespect? This is something else about Christians that I have never understood. Just what is it, about another person's differences, that frightens them so badly? And what is it about respect for other religions that is so difficult? Especially when we are dealing with born again types whose parents are not Christian? And why is it so easy for some of these born-again congregations to encourage children to disrespect their parents? First, to condescend to a parishioner's parents while cheering on the parishioner to do the same, followed by destruction of property, in this case, the Tarot cards. Another word for the latter is theft, but apparently "thou shalt not steal" goes out the window with "honor they father and thy mother" when keeping the ten commandments requires empathy and manners. Feel free to believe me when I state that the Christian "God's" permission to his faithful to exclude yours truly from the respect he insists must be granted other elders and parents is enraging, and does not foster any family atmosphere or relationship.

If any of my sons had destroyed a deck of my cards, or any other tool connected to the Craft or matters occult, I would probably film myself ceremoniously burning the culprit's bible and put it on YouTube. That said, I suppose it is a good thing it was only the Tarot cards that were destroyed and discarded on an isolated rural road. Born-agains do some strange things.

In Case You Missed Church On Sunday

Ah yes, Oklahoma, the ten commandments, and the impending erection of Satan! Well, Baphomet.....Satan and Baphomet are two entirely different entities, but the point being made by the Satanic Temple is still very valid. In 2012, Oklahoma inserted the ten commandments on the lawn of their capital building, showing obvious favor to Christianity. When asked about displaying symbols of other religions, Oklahoma refused. The state also refused to remove it's statue of the ten commandments. Now, with a win in the Supreme Court, assisted by the ACLU, Lucien Greaves, of the Satanic Temple, commissioned the creation of a statue of Baphomet to also sit on the lawn of the capital building in Oklahoma. If the ten commandments does not disappear, the statue of Baphoment, according to the court's ruling, must also be given a place. Since the ten commandments is still there, Greaves has announced that the statue is nearly complete, and that there are copies of it in case Oklahoma Christians do that Christian thing of which so many of them are fond, and vandalize the statue. It's comforting to know that the Satanic Temple has our backs when state governments try to decide which church we should all attend, and it's nice to know that the ACLU is still willing to go on the defense for us, even in the Midwest, which seems to be the land of misplaced ethnocentrism.

In Case You Missed Church This Sunday

 

In reality, Moses could not possibly have been a Northern European!